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A review by chrisshorb
The Veil by Fraser Simons, Kyle Simons
4.0
This game is inspiring. It really digs deep into the heart of what Cyberpunk is - an exploration of identity, reality, and society.
The roll + stat mechanic of Powered by the Apocalypse games is active here; but the "stats" in this game are actually "States" - Emotions. And the player chooses which State to roll, Mad, Peaceful, Joy, Scared, Powerful, or Sad. Each time they use a State, they mark it. Once they've used it 5 times, that triggers a move "Alleviate", where they either have to keep pushing that emotion, or try to divert and stand down the emotion. It feels like this shift in the PbtA mechanic would drive the fiction in a specific way - more like Monsterhearts than Dungeon World or Apocalypse World.
I liked the playbooks a lot. They don't map necessarily to the protagonist tropes most frequently found in cyberpunk touchstones - although I would say the Catabolist could be a good match for Neuromancer's Molly; and the Architect might align with Hiro Protagonist. Maybe. What the playbooks actually do well is allow players to explore the meta questions that Cyberpunk asks of us all - in an era of hyper-change caused by technology, what does it mean to be human?
In addition, there's a whole section in the GM chapter that discusses exactly what flags are being raised by players who take specific playbooks - and how to hit those flags in play. Really useful.
The examples of play were very helpful, and were frequent throughout the book.
Finally, the quotes and the artwork were so evocative of the genre, I was really amped up to play. Right. Now.
Why didn't I give it 5 stars?
1. No index. RPG books need an index.
2. The playbook sheets are not in the actual book. I have go to an online resource to see the actual playbooks and setting sheet.
3. An Appendix N (ie, a listing of touchstones across various media to help inspire the GM and players to create awesome setting). The followup book - Veil Cascade - remedies this.
The roll + stat mechanic of Powered by the Apocalypse games is active here; but the "stats" in this game are actually "States" - Emotions. And the player chooses which State to roll, Mad, Peaceful, Joy, Scared, Powerful, or Sad. Each time they use a State, they mark it. Once they've used it 5 times, that triggers a move "Alleviate", where they either have to keep pushing that emotion, or try to divert and stand down the emotion. It feels like this shift in the PbtA mechanic would drive the fiction in a specific way - more like Monsterhearts than Dungeon World or Apocalypse World.
I liked the playbooks a lot. They don't map necessarily to the protagonist tropes most frequently found in cyberpunk touchstones - although I would say the Catabolist could be a good match for Neuromancer's Molly; and the Architect might align with Hiro Protagonist. Maybe. What the playbooks actually do well is allow players to explore the meta questions that Cyberpunk asks of us all - in an era of hyper-change caused by technology, what does it mean to be human?
In addition, there's a whole section in the GM chapter that discusses exactly what flags are being raised by players who take specific playbooks - and how to hit those flags in play. Really useful.
The examples of play were very helpful, and were frequent throughout the book.
Finally, the quotes and the artwork were so evocative of the genre, I was really amped up to play. Right. Now.
Why didn't I give it 5 stars?
1. No index. RPG books need an index.
2. The playbook sheets are not in the actual book. I have go to an online resource to see the actual playbooks and setting sheet.
3. An Appendix N (ie, a listing of touchstones across various media to help inspire the GM and players to create awesome setting). The followup book - Veil Cascade - remedies this.